Post navigation

31 thoughts on “The Four Powers of Gratitude”

When you decide ahead of time to notice gratitudes, it helps you focus in on the positive things that are happening. Otherwise it is all too easy to fall into discontent.

When you make a commitment to writing short gratitude notes, it builds both the person for whom you are grateful and also yourself. It is a win/win. What we see in writing is twice as beneficial as words we hear that are fleeting.

When you consistently voice gratitude, then when you have another more difficult message to convey, people will be willing to “hear” you because you have already invested positively into the relationship or business.

A very thought provoking post. The post reflects the approach of two genre towards life. And in fact, they are different. I would connect your thoughts in this way that I believe is true. Ungrateful and unhappiness and contentment and happiness are connected. And one relates to new generation and other perhaps old generation. We can name it as Gen Y and Gen X. And organizations suffer due to this approach.Now impact of such approach depends upon the kind of mix of both kind the people. And it also depends upon the kind of business, organizations are. Whatever is the consequences of these different attributes on the organizations, one thing is very clear, new generation lag empathy and humility. And one strong reason is that they have not suffered or sacrificed. They neither want to sacrifice not have patience to wait. They need everything in a moment.
And that is perhaps major factor why organizations fail. And therefore, I strong believe that rules, policies should be there in place that every one need to follow.Leaders should take time to make is workable but any decision or judgement based on logic and individual feeling should be discouraged.

Hi Dan,
Being grateful releases us from our ‘karma’ with person/situation/organization and opens door for new learning of life…
Have always felt happy when some one expresses his/her gratitude and feel I need to pass the trend else its like a loan taken on which interest keep building…

Change leaders, whether old or young, abhor complacency and have a sense of urgency that is felt throughout the organization. They don’t say “tomorrow” when there is still an hour left today. They don’t accept a “three month delivery” until it can be honed down to 11 weeks, with a critical path identified and monitored. Because they drive towards goals, engaged people followed, and disengaged either jump on the bandwagon or leave the organization.

Thankfulness has very little to do with urgency, but a lot to do with engagement, trust, and love. People agree to work hard for and with leaders because they believe in a common cause and want to be a part of it. Saying “thank you” in the most precise way possible in a timely manner and without hypocrisy helps people to feel they did contribute.

We were too loudly tooting our horn to an outside consultant/ advocate about a reduction in the number of negative events occurring, from 300 to 54 to 12. While not quite six sigma, it was a radically positive change.

The consultant expressed appreciation and gratitude while at the same time added a perspective, “I respect what you have done. That is truly great and amazing work and your customers must be much more happy with your service. I want to learn how you did it and yet…what about those 12? How do they feel about your service? We went from beaming to crestfallen to ‘yeah, you are absolutely right’ in a moment.

Part of the leader’s job is to bring hope, appreciation, & gratitude that are genuine and yet still maintain the long view of what can be. Gratitude with necessary discontent is a balancing act, with pace/ timing integral to success and with a core underpinning of unconditional respect.

Great post! Thanks for sharing. I love the act of being grateful. And, I agree with you. It is the key to happiness. I would like to offer these gratitude tips, and a link to where I have also written on the subject. http://toddliles.com/be-grateful-to-be-happy.html

1. Look to the Wisdom of the Lord

2. Recognize the Blessings you Have

3. Let Others Know What They Mean to You

4. Don’t Get Upset When Things Don’t Go Your Way

5. Learn to Number Your Days

Life is short and precious. Treat everyday as the gift it is.

Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days, so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

You’re right on the money Dan! A wonderful gratitude tip comes from John Maxwell’s book, “25 Ways to Win With People” where he explains the power of edification -compliment people in front of others; therefore if gratitude is the thought process, verbal edification is a great example of an *action*